The present invention relates to the solubilization of the keratinaceous constituents of various hard and soft keratin source materials to derive therefrom a novel nutrient material suitable in itself as a food or for incorporation into food products.
It is known to hydrolyze keratinaceous materials such as feathers and the like by the use of alkalis such as strontium hydroxide, to produce a hydrolysate having a low content of the amino acids cystine, tyrosine and tryptophane, which is suitable for cosmetic use, and a process of this type is disclosed, for example, in the U.S. Pat. No. 1,974,554. It is also known to extract water soluble materials from a keratin structure such as animal hair, horns, hoofs, and the like, using various water-miscible polar solvents including alcohols and ketones, to obtain extracts adapted for topical use in human skin treatment.
The poultry processing industry operates on a scale which results in the production of large tonnages of by-product keratin-aceous materials, principally feathers. Largely, the present disposal of these by-products is devoted to the production of feather meal. The industry is re-oriented by the present invention to the production of food for human consumption thereby upgrading the materials to a more valuable purpose and to using more effectively the economic potential of these by-products.
Another source of keratinaceous material in the poultry industry includes eggs which cannot be sold on the market, eggs which are underdeveloped or unborn chicks. Any naturally occurring protein can be treated according to the present invention and reconstituted as a protein isolate.
Animals slaughtered for human consumption provide another source of keratinaceous materials. Slaughter houses and meat packing plants processing cattle, hogs, sheep, horses and goats produce keratinaceous material in the form of hair fur, skin, hoofs and horns which can be effectively processed according to the present invention so as to utilize more effectively numerous and varied keratin sources to produce protein nutrient.
In the garment industry there are many waste materials, such as scraps of fur, silk, cashmere, angora wool and other material from keratinaceous protein which would also be a source of beginning products for the present invention.
It is also possible to dispose of entire animals and birds by the present invention such as processing of the carcasses entire chickens and other animals in order to obtain protein nutrients.